Regulation
by dgj212
Summary: "Learning how to fly is easy. You just aim for the ground and miss it!" Flying Alt power Taylor. Read, enjoy, REVIEW!


Couldn't find a worm story where Taylor had the power or at least the side effect to fly without her being so overpowered or tinkered out. I came up with this power when I was thinking of a way to incorporate Mass Effect into the worm series...I didn't find one that I liked. But what I did like was the idea of I got for flying. I was also inspired by the trailer song for Stan Lee's The Reflection anime produced by Trevor Horn, shame about the actual show though. For those of you die-hard canon worm fans, in this fic Taylor's shard is the Regulation Shard. Whether or not I follow canon or not is unknown. Might just make this as a short story, the goal here is to inspire people to come up with powers that aren't over the top but can be when used creatively. Anyways night! READ, ENJOY, AND REVIEW! maybe get inspired. Also the initial description, just google Taylor Hebert and you'll find it.

I don't own worm

[edited]

* * *

"This is nice," I said to no one in particular as I watched the sunset, slowly rocking my feet back and forth.

I just wore jeans, sneakers, gray with black outlines t-shirt topped with a black and yellow zip-up windbreaker with a hoodie that had an S stitched to it. In my hand, I had a digital Altimeter with LED backlight I got at a pawn shop for 30 dollars, though I wasn't really sure if I needed it. But you never know.

At the moment, I was sitting on the roof of an old ship, a freighter, the Rusalka. Originally a ship for a Russian company that an American Company bought. Well Leviathan made it Brockton Bay's ship now. With the endbringer out in the sea, very little companies want to actually try to cross the sea. I haven't really heard of Leviathan coming up and sinking ships, then again with Leviathan it'd probably over in an instant, but I have heard that in areas where he might be "healing" in the deep sea is pretty violent with a never-ending storm that makes the seas very dangerous to cross. And that area? It moves. You really can't charter a course around Leviathan. I knew a few companies that employ independent capes, tinkers in particular, have ways to get around Leviathan but it's a small number. Yet some normal companies try to whether the seas, others that could go along the coast can survive, the ones that depend on countries on the other side of the world, they gave up.

As a result, the ship graveyard was born in Brockton Bay. Ships of all types rested here and anything of value was already taken. Hell, the Rusalka was just half a ship as it is. It was truly a sad sight.

I thought about it before. Going to one of those companies and working for them. I read online that a cargo ship takes 20 or so knots, roughly 23 miles per hour but some cargo ships go half that due to the sea conditions and for the sake of their cargo. My power makes that a bit hard and requires a lot of constant control, or lots of sudden deceleration and acceleration (I'm pretty new at this) would be hard to maintain and if I slip up it would hurt people and damage our cargo; or if they don't use my powers right away I would have to wait days as some sort of emergency cape, and even then I might end up accidentally killing everyone if it's to escape Leviathan or his storm. Not to mention, I might not even live in Brocton Bay anymore if I did that. One of the few things going for Brockton Bay is cape tourism and the pharmaceutical company, and even then, the few sea exports we have are already taken and along the, relatively safe, coastline.

I know the city is not in the best shape and that a lot of people dream of leaving home and going far away and making their own lives. I grew up a cape nerd, practically worshiping them, and for better or worse the Bay is all I know. I love this city.

I took a deep breath.

"I'm really doing this," I stated it but it was more of a question than a fact. I stared at my new, used, Altimeter. Now that I thought about it was a dumb purchase. I thought about being a hero but I didn't have much to work with and unlike Clockblocker who could freeze people in time or Vista who can bend space, like actual space. My powers just aren't useful in a fight and a bit risky if used aggressively. I would need lots of things to help me fight; maybe Kid Win, their tinker, a person who can make stuff beyond the capabilities of modern science, he might loan me a laser pistol and other than him there's Shadow Stalker who uses a crossbow, she can phase through walls or something like that.

I shook my head. It's probably better if I can prove that I can actually fight, that I won't be dead weight. Besides a gun, my best bet is to use a shield or something. I'm not a brick, I can't shrug off attacks. I also can't fire things. My power has a range of one inch away from my body and its isn't really useful. If I do attack with my powers I need time to do it or I need something with me to take hits while I fire with something.

I sighed.

I needed to do this. I already know where the place is. I found it while testing my power. If it was Empire 88, the Bay's very own Neo-Nazis, or Azn Bad Boys, the Asian version, I probably wouldn't have done it. But I'm broke and I don't really have a way to get cash on my own. At least not fast enough. This was my best bet.

I took another deep breath as I waited for the sun to set, once it got dark I nodded to myself.

I got up, turned around and walked over to a backpack. I got out my old glasses' case, snapped it open, pulled out the old pair while I put my current ones in and snapped it shut. Next, I pulled out the safety glasses I stole from my school. Put my old pair on then the safety glasses. I could see, but not as good not to mention the scratches on my glasses. Oh well. If something happened I rather it be to my old glasses. Next, I pulled out an old travel pillow, not as comfortable as it seems. And finally, I pulled out a scarf and wrapped it around my neck and mouth.

Once I was sure my face was wrapped up enough, I zipped up my windbreaker and put my hoodie on, wiggled the pillow around my neck, adjusted my scarf so that it wrapped around the hoodie (probably should have done this last) and I was done. I walked to the edge.

"Should I?" I wondered out loud, I quickly shook my head, it wasn't dark enough.

I might as well do it in a less open area. It would suck if I was caught…but no one was around and the glasses were already on. Besides, I didn't want to walk all the way down and then find a nice dark secluded area. Who knows how long that would take. Well, one of the reasons I was at the boat graveyard was to be alone.

Well, looks like a mixture of laziness and eagerness to use powers won. I walked to one end, the end facing the sea, I turned to face the city. I ran forward, trying to build as much momentum as possible. As soon as I got to the edge I lunged forward.

NOW!

I changed my gravity forward.

This was my power. Not exactly gravity manipulation, I can't change how heavy or how light something is, I can't alter mass or friction, I can't even fly. My power, in its entirety, is simply changing the direction gravity affects me or anything I touch. A striker power.

To many it may seem like I'm flying forward, well, I guess that's it but it's more accurate to say that I'm falling forward, not flying.

You know that feeling everyone imagines where the wind rushes past them whilst flying? Not exactly fun for me, I just felt as if I was falling headfirst into the ground. It's not an easy feeling to get used to! Right now, my heart was rushing a hundred miles an hour and I swear to god I felt it stop for a bit!

"Calm down," I told myself as a building was rushing to meet me. I changed the direction again and quickly I was falling up as the momentum my body collected sent me forward. My body trembled and a knot began to form in my stomach, I may be staring at the ground as my body went higher, but I felt like I was falling on my back. I shiver ran down my spine as I reminded myself of that thought.

I was falling. It always takes a while to get used to it.

I mean I'm pretty sure for flyers they feel a force pushing them not simply falling like me. Still-OH SHIT!

Quickly I added one more direction pulling me from behind me, the momentum quickly finished dying just in time to avoid me going face first into a flagpole. I do not want to make Vlad The Impaler proud. I quickly eliminated the extra direction as I was quickly over the building. I put one extra direction pulling me back down. It took a minute before the momentum that my-falling up built to die down.

Fuck, falling in a city is dangerous.

Thankfully I can have two directions that gravity affect me at any given time; its only two directions and it can't stack. I can use one direction to fall up or down and use the other one to move me forward, backward, left right. Almost like the degrees of freedom from engineering. Actually, one rule I found that I'm bound to is that: I must always have a direction where gravity pulls me. So my body is always being pulled in one direction by gravity.

The way I envision my power's effect on me or objects I touch is through a sphere with an arrow or something that indicates the direction gravity is pulling the sphere. I move the arrow wherever I want, either instantly or slowly sliding it around the sphere, even add another arrow/direction at will and gravity pulls me along those points.

Usually my method of "flying" is to position myself a certain way and then have gravity pull forward and then let the momentum build before I switch directions to either control my speed or elevation or even to take a break in midair to try to reposition myself.

I guess people could call what I'm doing right now [floating] or planking in midair, but really it was just the two forces of gravity cancelling each other out. It was weird, I'm still working on using pinpoint directions on certain parts of my body but it takes a while and is hard to use on the spot.

"Let's try this again," I muttered as I changed the pull forward while keeping the momentum up. I raised a little bit before I made the direction disappear. I had a bit of vertigo but I was able to calm myself. I looked forward. As I said earlier. I'm not flying, I'm falling. If I had to describe it to something then it's probably skydiving, only instead of using my body to take advantage of the air resistance to keep me in the air longer, I was diving forward.

As I fell forward I would change or put a direction behind me or add one in order to cancel the gravity out and slow down my momentum. I didn't have a way to break like a car or bike would. I could only eyeball how fast I was going and guess when to try to kill my momentum before I got too fast.

According to the web, a human being falling would, provided he used proper technique to take advantage of the air, fall around 45-60 miles an hour of terminal velocity, max terminal velocity is around 200 miles an hour, but skilled skydivers usually make it around 150 miles an hour, that was what I was doing…diving. So yes, I couldn't let the momentum build too much. I do not want to know what it feels like to hit an object at rest with 150 miles of force behind my fall, or even 40 for that matter, and falling while "standing" up might give the secret away too soon.

God, this is why I need money. To buy custom equipment to protect myself and to fight. The thing about flying, or falling in my case, isn't just the bugs or birds I might hit (I had bug sprayed myself but I think it did the opposite of what I wanted), it's air.

I'm a cape geek, my favorite cape of all times is Alexandria, one if not the toughest woman in the world; she can fly, has super strength and is super tough, she's the very reason why the term "Alexandria Package" exist. She was the first and probably still the greatest brute flyer. Which brings us to the reality that is science.

At about 11,500-18,000 feet that's the height where altitude sickness starts to kick in due to how thin oxygen is, for reference, the empire state building is around 1,250 feet, roughly 1,450 feet if you include the tip, and the statue of liberty is around 310 feet tall. The higher you get the less pressure there is and gas expands with less pressure, this means that molecules have more space to move and not collide, what does this mean? Molecules not colliding=no friction=no heat; meaning it gets cold up there and the oxygen gets thinner and hard to breath, so flying above the clouds would give you hypothermia and hypoxia.

That's not all, fly up too fast and you get the bends, or decompression sickness. As stated earlier, the higher you go there less pressure there is, less pressure allows gas to expand its volume, that includes the gas inside the human body; think about it like a soda, when you pop the cap the pressure is released and it fizzes. Don't believe me? Ask any deep-sea diver and they can tell you that if they ascend too quickly they get pain, dizziness, even paralysis and death.

Just fly a few meters above buildings? Well okay but don't forget the g-forces; gravity, in this case, is simply the acceleration that alters perception of body weight. One G is just the average effect of gravity, 2 Gs is twice the effect, the body feel twice as heavy, make a sharp turn at 4 Gs, you'll feel the full effect. And when the body is heavier, what happens to all that blood? It goes away from your head and lack of blood to the brain=blackout.

So how in hell would a flying cape actually be able to fly in the clouds or at these heights and at these speeds? Either get good gear, preferably tinker stuff, proper technique, or a be brute and take it like a champ.

Well, I'm a bit different, I mean pressure, oxygen, and temperature still affects me, but I'm falling. Again, it's better to think of me as a skydiver than a flyer. But that just means that blood is rushing to my head as I'm falling headfirst, it's still not a good thing but at least it not as fast as it would be if I was hanging upside down (I think). Honestly, it would be better if I used my body to track then doing a constant dive…oh, tracking is basically using the air to push you where you want to go. But if I did that I'd be spinning while falling forward (I'm still not good at tracking) plus it would make me a bigger target. Also, I'd look a bit weird falling forward like that, and its not like I will purposely fall down in a city, that's just suicide (even if I do constantly change the direction up and down). So, I had to learn to dive until I got my hands on a shield around my weight to use like a fake hoverboard, or some really good armor that gives me a minor brute rating and to track and control how I fall better.

I got dizzy for a bit and decided to land. Diving everywhere was not the best thing to do, especially around buildings.

I adjusted myself, careful not to lose my balance, technically I was tracking and it helped kill the momentum but it didn't fully do the job. I still stumbled and had to run a bit when my feet touched the roof of a building. I shot my hands out to the sides to try to balance myself. After I was sure I was okay I stretched.

After a while I caught my breath and debated my next move. I could always run.

"Free running it is," I said out loud and started running forward, I jumped when I reached the edge, letting gravity pull me up, then forward, then back down as I reached the other side. I hit the "ground" and kept running. I kept jumping building to building, with a grin on my face. Jeez, why is it so much easier to judge my momentum when I'm running instead of falling? Beats me I just know I have a better time doing it.

Honestly, I think if I kept at it, I would be awesome at parkour with my powers. At the moment, I was just using the momentum I gained from running to move forward, changing my gravity forward if I have to, but mostly I just alternate between up and down like a pro. I bet I seem as if I was bouncing off objects. I mean I don't even have to worry about slipping or anything, the second I touch "ground" my momentum is already dead and I'm already being pulled up by gravity, I just had to use my foot to push myself forward.

I honestly couldn't help but laugh out loud as I leapt across the street to another building.

One more building I thought to myself as I ran a full speed, did a flip as I used my power to pull forward and ground myself, so to speak, as to what direction I'm heading. I landed on the very edge of the roof. I laughed as I walked forward.

At least I can outrun people if I have to, that's good.

I carefully crept to the other end. Okay, one more jump. I jumped to another building as I force my excitement to die down. I crouched as I moved forward. In front of me was bigger building, an apartment building that seems like it had the fire-escape removed.

I added another direction for gravity to pull me up and ran forward, I pushed my arms just before I hit the building, killing my momentum. After that, I looked around, nobody was around to see me. I smiled, I would normally change my direction so I can walk up along the walls, but I didn't want anyone to hear me let alone see me. Instead, I pulled myself up, pretty easy when you don't have gravity holding you down. I quickly made it to the top floor. I peeked into the window and I saw it. A table littered with money, most in crude, yes there was a few bags of white powder and tiny bottles here and there, drugs obviously, a handgun or two, even a few beer bottles. There was one guy and he was counting but he was yawning.

Could I take him? Maybe if use my power to quickly fly in, roof him and let him fall and quickly stash and grab before anybody else comes in. Should I? I was still trying to keep myself a secret. I do not want to be "recruited" into a gang. But still, I can't stay outside the window all night, someone would eventually spot me. I heard the door opening.

"Hey, Jessie, good ol' pal," I heard a woman said.

"Fuck off," he quickly said casually. I heard her sigh.

"Look, I, I was-"

"I know what you want, Skyler, and no. No freebies. Either you pay or you fuck off!"

"But you're in charge, right? I mean you could-"

"I still need to meet my quota and if start giving out to every girl I'd meet, Skidmark would have my balls and Squealer would chain my feet to her monster truck and drag me everywhere until I was nothing by raw meat for pigs. Now fuck off!"

"Wait…What if I blow you?" He scoffed.

"You ain't that good," he laughed.

"Well…look if my mouth's no-"

"I heard about you from Drake, he said your pretty loose, I doubt that you'd be a good fuck."

"Bullshit! He said I was the best he's ever had!" She argued in vain.

Oh god, this was not happening.

Nope!

This shit only happens on TV!

"Well if you really think so, then you can always go out and find a guy or two who'll be willing to help you out."

"NO!" She said loudly, "out of the question!"

"What the hell is so damn different from what you are offering to do right now?"

"I know you, I know Drake. You guys are clean."

"…Fuck…" I heard the guy say, it sounded like that struck a chord. "Alright, have you ever done Anal?"

…Shit, this is really happening.

"Um…once in highschool but…"

"Then you know how it goes."

"But…I don't have, you know, things to filter my system." Pretty sure she meant laxatives or something.

"That's what condoms are for, besides, there's a shower in the bathroom. We can always wash off. If you're that bothered by it, I think Lexy keeps something like that in the cabinet. Tell you what. How about you go check, maybe take a shower, and I'll finish up what I can here, grab a few party items and, well, we'll get a party going before we start. Sound good."

I didn't really hear her reply but she I think I heard her mutter "yes." I heard her footsteps move away.

Okay, hopefully no one will see me.

I closed my eyes and concentrated.

I read that some people with powers similar to mine had restrictions, like not being able to make something heavier than you weightless or you had to be drugged up or buzzed for it to work, or even that you couldn't even affect the living. Mine was that I can't change the direction of gravity of people's separate body parts like innards or just the head, and that for anything more than twice or thrice my weight (still testing), I could change the direction gravity affected it, I just couldn't move. The direction of gravity affecting my body will remain, but I can't move, I can't see, sounds become muffled, I can sort-of feel, but really my world disappears.

The only thing I can perceive is the building. At the moment I could see it, the pipes, the concrete, the individual pieces of wood, even the cash. Everything connected to the building I'm touching I can see. I can also change the direction gravity affects them.

While I can see and track humans, I can't change their direction. Well, I can but for that, they have to be connected to the building, or sitting or staying in place for a long time. And even then, it wouldn't really do much and I really have to concentrate. Fall up, they leave my range and then I have to wait for them to stay still. If they run, and in the middle of that, lose contact with the floor for even an instant, I won't be able to change their direction unless they were connected for a certain amount of time.

So really it's better to focus on inanimate objects. I'm still working on being able to see. I mean if I can make a car "fly" it would be awesome to see where I'm making it fly. Even if I can't move I can just move the heavy object and have it fairy me around. That was another reason the boat idea was a no go, maybe if it was made of individual segments that was at the weight limit, then yeah I probably could do it, but other than that, no way.

But for now, at best, this was just my way of mapping the area and keeping an eye on people. Also, I saw the building from third person perspective, and I could rotate the building, focus on a certain area if I wanted to, almost like looking at a 3D design on a computer. I call this aspect of my power [trace].

I could see seven guys, four girls, second floor, "Celebrating," three guys first floor, judging by what I think are guns, guards. The rest of the floors seem to have three-four people. And finally, that last floor I'm in, one guy in the room counting money, the girl taking a shower, a couple having fun, and that's it. I can see, but it's only white outlines with everything else being black. I don't get to see color, just the white outlines. I can see their clothing, guns I think, including how many or how little layers they have.

I opened my eyes and my world came back to me.

Okay, just two people to worry about.

I looked around and there was no one to spot me. Well no one I can see anyway. My powers stop at the ground. If I try to concentrate on the street or sidewalk or try to see it, my powers don't work. Maybe if it was a chunk ripped off then my power would work. It might be that the ground is connected to too many things for me to comprehend. If touch and try to see the entire building, I'll see it, but outside of it, not possible.

I heard shuffling inside, without thinking about it I had my gravity move me above the window a bit.

I saw his head poking out below me. Looked left, right, bellow and went back inside, then I heard the window shut. I smiled, I could always open it…

CLICK

…unless he locks it. Fuck.

I gave my body a spin to face the floor, change my gravity to the wall as well as away from the wall. I quickly dragged myself to get to the window. I peeked inside to see him walking out the door. I couldn't hear but if I had to guess, he locked it. Okay. Do I give up or try to look for a way to get some cash? I closed my eyes and traced the building, white lines tracing it out from the black void…at the other side of the building, next to the stairs, there was an open window.

I took a deep breath. I was already here, I might as well risk it.

I change gravity to drag me up, well I felt like I was falling down. As soon as I saw that I passed the roof of the building, I did a spin and twisted as I set gravity to pull me to the other side. I looked about, again no one was around to see me.

I floated really quick and dragged my body down to the window. I heard voices. I stopped short of the window pressed my hand on the wall and traced.

Whites lines traced the building from touch.

There was a room close to the door. The couple were inside celebrating, the guy, Jessy, was already in a room next to the room with the cash and drugs, and Skyler was in the bathroom, sitting I think…oh.

I opened my eyes and pulled myself forward, entered the window almost as if I was swimming into a tunnel with my back to the ground, changed my gravity to the ceiling, and I was on it almost like a spider.

I didn't know how much noise I would make on the wooden floors but I'm pretty sure a girl stuck to the ceiling would be pretty obvious I was here to rob them. I slowly dropped back to the ground.

Once I planted my feet, I took a second to get accustomed to it. I closed my eyes and quickly traced the building. The white lines detailed the black world and everything was clear to me. Skyler, I think, she was still sitting on the toilet, Jessy was next to a TV, not sure why, the couple in the bedroom, still going at it. Trace off.

I opened my eyes and crept closer to the money room. I didn't even need to look at it to know it was locked. The door knob had a keyhole, obviously, and then there were at least three other locks on it. Right, knew that too. Unless I wanted to wait and see if I could steal the keys while Jessy and Skyler were…dipping banana in Nutella, I had to come up with another way to steal the money. I think I have a way. I traced the building again.

Jessy didn't seem to be moving soon and Skyler was holding the counter of the sink for her dear life, the other couple were still doing it. Trace off.

I opened my eyes and moved to the room next to the money room. My footsteps made creaking sounds but thankfully Jessy was watching TV (I could hear it) and the couple were pretty loud.

I closed the door behind me and locked it, looked around and nodded to myself. I walked to the bed and above it was an air vent. While I hate to admit it, I am a stick, but I wasn't skinny enough to fit through the vents. But the vents did connect to the other room and it was the typical rectangle vents with shoot that would rotate to stop the airflow into the room, and the one into the money room was open. But again, the only problem is that I can't fit through the vent. Luckily, I had a solution for this.

I pulled out a spool of blue thread with a needle. It was a part of sewing kit we had at the house. I honestly don't know why we bought it, none of use, knew how to use it. After a few attempts, the kit was left to collect dust for a few years. It's only useful now because of my powers.

Quickly, I took out the needle stabbing the spool and unspooled it. I didn't know how much I would need so I just spooled most of it. I grabbed the spool and tossed it into my open backpack. I got into a comfortable position. And then I traced.

Yes, I could do it without trace but I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on everyone, would I? Plus, it'd be easier to thread the needle through the vents.

Once I could see the build I began to move the needle. I changed the direction gravity affected the needle, making sure the thread was well apart and didn't knot. Once the needle was at the right height I sent it through the vent, before it could hit the wall of the vent I killed the momentum. I maneuvered the needled until it reached the room with the money.

I snapped my eyes open and quickly spooled up the loose thread I didn't need to make clean up easier, I could sense where the needle was through the wall, but tracing the thread and building gave me a much better picture. After I was done, I went back to tracing and moving the needle. I debated moving the table closer to the vent, I mean I could already change the direction gravity affects a table but it could scrape against the floor or I could mess up and make noise without realizing it. So I decided against it.

I pulled the needle back, raised it, angled it and changed the direction so that gravity would pull the needle at an angle. It took a few tries to actually hit and embed the needle onto table at the angle. Next, I moved the individuals bills that weren't tied into a bundle. As much as it sucks, the bundles were too thick to move through the vents, so I just had to hope that the bills were of a big enough value. One by one, I moved the bills to the needle had gravity pull them up into the vent.

I checked on everybody else, Jessie and Skyler were partying, the couple nearby were done and simply resting, maybe even smoking. A few people downstairs moved but nothing major. No one was heading to my location. I went back to my bills and moved them through the vents and finally down into my backpack. I wish I could just command the objects I effect with my power to go somewhere and let the objects figure out how to change the direction gravity affects them, but sadly my powers don't work like that.

I was good at multitasking but not that good. So I could only move a bunch of bills at a time, at least until I was sure it was alright to leave the bill alone and switch to a different bill and guide it to my backpack. I was basically jumping back and forth with my powers to make sure the bills were running smoothly.

I was happy. In about fifteen minutes I was done collecting three stacks worth of bills without being interrupted. Sadly, it was only three stacks, everything else was tied or bundled. I debated trying to get those by stabbing where they were tied(with rubber bands hopefully), but I felt like I was already pushing my luck. I pulled back my needle and thread and began the task of spooling it again.

I worked fast I stood up and smiled at my open backpack full of cash. Sure, if I press it would sink to the bottom like a pancake, but I could still admire it, right?

Then I heard footsteps approaching the door. I panicked, I was too engrossed with my task that I didn't notice someone approach the door. I was already working as fast as I could so I just kept at it.

"What the," a male voice said as he tried to open the door, "who locked my door?"

He tried it a few more times but it didn't open. The guy began banging on the door.

"HEY! Who the fuck is in there!" He banged a few more times. Crap he was drawing attention and I didn't even need my powers to know that. Most of the thread was spooled, so i just tossed it into my backpack and jammed the needle into the bag.

"EY! UNLOCK THIS FUCKIN' DOOR!"

I ran to the window in the room and opened. The guy thus began to break into the room. Thankfully the door was sturdy enough. I jumped out the window, two gravity directions, up and down, making me float, and before anyone could see me, I dove off into the night sky!

I was smiling, hell I was laughing.

I just stole a bunch of cash from a bunch of drug dealers and no one knows it's me! God this was rush! I didn't even care that I was falling, my heart was already beating rapidly.

I threw caution into the wind for a while as I debated where I would go. The library seemed like a good place, I can head there. I can land somewhere and count my cash before I take a bus.

What?

No, I can't fly home, I run the risk of people outing me. Maybe after I learn my neighbor's sleeping patterns but even then it would be a risk.

* * *

I had landed in a dark alley next to a coffee shop, pulled out a few ones and fives from my backpack and bought myself some small pastries and a medium warm tea to go. Then once more, after making sure no one was looking, I flew up and found a nice cozy spot that blocked the wind.

I pressed my back against the wall put my bag in front of me. I smiled as I took a few minutes to savor my tea and treats, simply enjoying the calm soothing air of the night. After a while I started counting my money…I was not happy by the end of it.

I was expecting it, I knew there were ones and fives, tens, but I was also expecting fifties and hundreds dollar bills. Instead I found that the money I stole was mostly ones with fives, some ten, and a rare twenty at most. On hindsight, I probably should have guessed that. We're talking about drug addicts, of course they'd use whatever money they can scrounge up, and it's not like it was the good part of town either.

I sighed as I finished counting.

$522.

That's how much it was..sure it's far from nothing but, I mean I took a risk, went into drug dealer's den, stole cash and was close to being caught. I was hoping to get a thousand or two.

Well $522 dollars is still cash I can work with. I'm not sure how much a shield would cost,a custom made one that takes my powers into account, but I'm sure 500 isn't enough. And as for armor...was there even a person selling custom armor for flyers?

Not to mention I have to buy replacement textbooks…

Maybe help out with groceries…

Well one problem at a time…I could always buy an airsoft gun or something.

I sighed as I rested my head on the wall and closed my eyes. I opened them again and finished my tea.

I was about to finish the pastries when I noticed something. For some reason to the right of me the city became very dark. Is there a blackout?

No that clearly wasn't it. Even if it was dark I'd be able to see the other buildings.

I noticed it too it late, the darkness was moving!

Before I knew it, the darkness had engulfed me. I panicked! I couldn't see, the sound of the wind disappeared, hell I couldn't even smell my pastries! I tried to move but I everything bent the wrong way, it was almost as if I was in water. I tried to reach out h for my backpack but I couldn't feel things the right way. It was as if I was trying to feel something through a thick glove. I grabbed what I thought was my back and pulled it to my chest. I took everything I had to keep from just diving straight into the sky. I was pretty sure this was a parahuman power, but I knew I couldn't be hasty. If a person was after me, then they'd have a way to stop me from using my powers to get away. I had to get a better picture of my situation before I could move.

I traced the building.

The building, my body, my backpack, my empty tea cup, my mashed-up pastry. Shoot, I think I know how that happened. Anyway, I could see! I was the only one on the roof. But I can't move, at least not voluntarily when I trace.

Okay, let's try this.

I think I opened my eyes, I still couldn't see. I stood up. And then I ran forward and for a brief instanced I traced, it was just for an instant, one foot, I'm sure, on the ground. I saw the whole building get traced, I noted I was seven steps, give or take, from the edge of the building. Traced off. Kept running.

4…2…zero! I traced again, only this time instead of just the building I tried to focus on the pipes or the electrical wires or whatever connected to the building and see if I can follow it to the building at the other side. It worked. It was just for a brief instant but my view narrowed and followed a trace as it went from my foot, through the building, down to a pipe, across the road, into the other building then to the rooftop, the angle turned and I saw myself in the distance. Trace off.

I jumped, it was only for a brief instance, basically a blink, but I was able to understand how far away the other building. I changed the direction up and forward and then back down and then up to kill the momentum.

It wasn't perfect like my normal free run, I just had a glance of the distance, so I ended up with a bit more force when I hit the ground. I fell forward but like I said, my gravity was up. I floated for an instant and used it to recover before I set the pull back to normal.

I traced as I moved, it was like blinking rapidly or walking with your eyes closed and blinking them open rapidly to see where you are going.

Whatever this darkness was, it wasn't physically stopping me, but it was making walking a bad idea. Not that it stopped me. As long as my powers were okay I could still use my powers to change direction to trace the buildings. If anything I should be a bit thankful. Now I have a new way to walk around if I get blind.

Still, who the hell was doing this?

Whatever I just kept running in a random direction, using my trace to get blinks of buildings. I was getting better at snap memorization. Also, I made sure that when I get blinks of my position I also get the other building I want to go to as well.

I still kept skydiving in reserve in case I needed a quick getaway.

I kept running from rooftop to rooftop having absolutely no idea where I was going in the Bay. Jesus! I was sure I'd be out of the area of effect by now! How powerful was this parahuman's power?

Or is it something that had a time limit? Or worse, was the parahuman chasing me? I landed another building. This time I walked to the center and stayed still. If someone was chasing me they would have to stand on the same building as me. I traced the building.

For some odd reason when I tried to focus on the other buildings, I would follow pipes or wires to the other side I would get a view at an angle that captures the building and me then my trace would turn off without my asking. And it was just one building at a time.

Okay so focusing on buildings across the street or so was only brief. What about buildings so close to each other that it was practically connect? …No problem. Okay…so trace has a limit but I'm not sure what it is.

Whatever. The building I was on was enough but while I'm waiting I'll catch's blinks of other buildings…nothing. Okay. No one is chasing me so maybe it's a time thing.

Suddenly the darkness disappeared and it just evaporated. Then I heard the sounds of cheering.

"ALRIGHT!" I heard a girl shout excitedly. I turned my head.

"Undersiders a gazillion, heroes zero!" a guy shouted. I crept closer to the edge of a building. I looked at my hand and noticed bits of dried pastry, figured.

"Guys stop," another guy said, "Tattletale you were supposed to be on top that!"

"I was, I just…didn't think they'd get there that fast."

"You said they'd be busy at the other side of town," the second guy said. I looked over the edge. It took everything I had to not jump.

"Bah it's fine," the first guy said, "isn't this what we wanted?"

"Regent's right, Grue," Tattletale said, "we need to build our rep, like you want, right? Pulling a job and getting away from the local speedsters definitely helps with that."

"That was risky," Grue said with his arms crossed.

There were four people, Regent a guy dressed in white renaissance shirt that looked loose complemented with loose brown leggings I think, a mask I can't really see that well, he had a scepter, and he had dark curly hair. Tattletale a girl wearing a dark suit that had purple-ish outlines that streak across her body and join at her chest to form an eye, she has blonde hair and just wore domino mask. Grue just looked like a guy wearing a leather jacket and matching pants with a motorcycle helmet with darkness oozing out the sides. I guess he was the asshole messing with me. Then there was the last person, a little plump, but I think it's a girl, she just wore a jacket with jeans and wore a dog mask that was very cheap looking. She wasn't saying anything.

Why was I freaked out? Well, THERE WERE THREE FUCKING MONSTERS IN THE BACKALLEY THEY WERE IN!

Seriously, what even are those!? They had four legs, were tall as car and about as long as one, they looked boney and ferocious and they kept giving everyone a low growl. And that girl was just riding one of the three things as if it was natural, the other three were just standing around with duffle bags at their feet.

"Everything we do is a risk," the girl countered.

"You know what I mean."

"So now what?" The other girl finally talked.

"First shrink those dogs," Tattletale said as she texted on her phone.

THOSE ARE DOGS?

"Hrrmph" the girl replied.

"Look, I just texted for a ride, the boss assured me that it's discreet so we should be fine," Tattletale said. Boss? Are they part of a gang? Well, they all look white so maybe E88?

"Hey bitch, how long will it take?" Grue asked turning to face the plump girl. Whoa. The girl didn't reply she just got off her dogs. "Bitch?"

"I don't know," she growled. Wow, she just took that. But now that I saw it, the dogs were being reduced in size.

"It won't be long," Tattletale said.

"So you can use your power to figure out how long the dogs will be back to normal but you can't tell there's a guy next to the door jerking off."

"You know it's complicated," Tattletale said

"Everything is complicated~" Regent teased.

Well while they were arguing they had the duffle bags on the floor, unattended. It was stupid but, hey at least whoever they stole this from won't be looking for me. Quietly I unzipped my backpack and took out my thread and unspooled it. And slowly let it fall.

"So, is this a setup?" a new girl said from the entrance of the alleyway. I froze. "bags on the floor, dogs shedding their skin, all of this right next to the area I'm staking? It's about as obvious as it gets."

"…We just wanted to talk," Grue said, "it's Circus, right?" I looked like a thick girl, not fat by any means just thicker looking, almost like a guy dressed as a jester, blue face paint, hat, blue skin-tight costume with diamond patterns, and bells on her shoes. "Word is you're the best thief in the Bay."

"Cut flattery, what do you want."

"We want you to join our team," Tattletale said with a smile. A mischievous smile that honestly infuriated me for some odd reason.

"Ha! No," she said. "Let me guess? Tattletale?" She nodded, "Guy with a skull on the helmet and dark mist-Grue," she pointed to regent, "Guy who trips people and puts them down with a scepter, Regent," Trips people? "and finally, Hellhound," she pointed to the last girl, the dogs had already decreased in size considerably.

The girl quickly turned and yelled, "ITS BITCH!" Wait…she actually prefers bitch?

Whatever, while their attention was on Circus, I continued to guide the threaded needle down to the bags.

"Whatever," Circus shrugged. "What makes you think I'll join a bunch of losers?"

"We haven't lost or messed up a single job," Grue said. Circus scuffed.

"You guys are still small time, you've only been at this for less than a year, and all you do is stash and run."

"Pot calling the kettle black," Tattletale said.

"Hey, my heists are all high profile, one item it roughly the equivalent of whatever you guys have in the bags, and I do fine on my own."

"But if you join us, you get a team to back you up, you can be more aggressive, and you get a salary in addition to whatever we steal, have a way to get it fenced, and you get space to prepare your powers. Sure you got reflexes, perfect aim, and spatial sense, but your money is in that pocket dimension you use. In order to let out your little fire or acid trick, you need to prepare beforehand. And it's a big chore especially when you don't have the space to do it properly."

"And what? You think I can in that crappy little warehouse you losers share is enough space?"

"Wha-how did you-" Tattletale began while Grue and Regent stiffen, Bitch didn't really seem to care. My thread reached the first bag and touched it. I traced it. Just bags and bottles, drugs. Not what I wanted but hey, I can always take it to the cops and keep painkillers or something. So I guided my thread around it loosely and kept it moving.

"Sweetie," she cut in, "I'm a thief. It's my job to find things," she mentored. "Not that you guys were actually challenging, especially," she motioned to Bitch, "with her on the team."

I could feel the group's sharp intake of air. Still, I kept the thread moving just above the ground.

It was Grue who spoke.

"It's against th-"

"OH, BOO WHO," Circus cut in again. "THE UNWRITTEN RULES," Circus said waving her hands dramatically. I stopped and looked at her. "Give me a fuckin' break, with her on the team she can probably unmask every cape in Brockton Bay within a week if she was actually dedicated. Yeah, that's right, I've got a grasp, more or less on what you do too. And the thing is, you guys have been here for months, she probably has half the capes identities in her head and messes with them in her free time!"

"No I don't," Tattletale argued with a bit of attitude, then Circus crossed her arms and cocked her. "…well…some of them?" Tattletale said with a shrug. Grue shook his head while I heard Regent snicker. Okay, I think this might have been a bad idea, but I was almost halfway through so….

"Case in point," she said. The needle reached the bag near Grue, the trio too busy to notice and Bitch seemed too busy with her dogs, more like watching them shed their reduced skin…where the hell did all that mass come from?

Anyway, I traced the bag and I found a mixture of drugs, money I think, and a few handguns. Okay, that was more or less a score, maybe keep a handgun for personal protection? I could fire it out at sea where no one can see me for practice.

I could leave now but you know…one bag left.

"Okay, Tattletale aside," Grue continued, obviously not happy with both Circus and Tattletale, "we can always relocate, and Bitch can learn some…discretion."

"I can handle anyone," Bitch casually said.

"Not now, Bitch," Grue said. "Look, we can hook you up, help take your grab-bag tricks to the next level," he offered. Grab-bag?

"Uh huh, that aside, Bitch aside, what kind of benefit would I get joining you losers?"

"You get a team," Grue said, "you got me, I cover you and make your escapes better, Regent who can make your marks a little easier to hit and cover you, we obviously have better transportation with Bitch's dogs on rooftops, and we all have Tattletale, and like you guess, she's very good with information."

"But messes up at least half the time, like tonight," she said. Regent laughed.

"You sooooo walked into that," he laughed.

"Not helping," Grue said.

"But still true. The only reason you guys want me on your team is because besides Bitch's pets, you guys have no bruisers."

"It's not just…look, we're trying to do something. Can you at least consider working with us?"

"If you guys show merit maybe. Look why don't you guys waste your time on the black blue giant or the miss fire saliva and, for the love god, leave me alone! I swear you guys are about as annoying as ticks." The needle reached Tattletale's bags, a mixture of cash and papers it seems, a few small bottles of drugs I assume. She did say she was good with information so maybe the papers have something on them.

"We have plenty of merit," Tattletale argued, "I don't mean to toot my own horn, but my powers are topnotch."

"HA!" Circus said, "Like I'll ever believe that. You can't even tell your being robbed!" I froze, crap!

"Wha-" Grue let out as everyone turned. Quickly I had the bags fly up. Before they could react! The bags were well out of their reach and made their way to my hand. In a second I got them.

"What the hell!" I directed at the Circus.

"I don't give a fuck," she said as she made herself scarce but not before flipping me the finger.

"HEY!" Regent yelled, I looked down at him. "We stole fair and square!" I didn't stick around. I turned, jammed the needle deep into the duffle bag and dove into the sky.

Grab-bag, information, dogs, the dark thing, hell whatever that tripping was I didn't want to deal with it.

I just dove into the sky with my backpack, the three bags, and just headed somewhere near the police station as I left them behind me.

I think I've had enough for one night.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Yeah when you see gravity control you don't normally think which direction it affects you. So yeah, SkyDiving Taylor!


End file.
